Get Them to Click on Your Website When Searching
Prospects are presented with an array of choices when they do a search for commonly used search terms. Which website link will they click on? Why?
Let’s start with some assumptions:
Your site is visible on the first page of Google; The search term used is relevant to a key service you offer and you have a page on your site devoted to this service.
The 3 key elements in getting them to click are:
- The page title – clickable headline and window title in the browser
- The “meta-description” -
- The url
Example: Search term – “engagement rings chapel hill nc”
Page title –
“Grimball Jewelers: Engagement rings, diamond ring, Chapel Hill, NC” (66 characters)
A good page title includes important words (search terms) that describe what they are likely to find when they get to the page. Should be no longer than 66 characters (including spaces) as most search engines will usually cut off anything beyond this number.
Note: The page title is probably the most important on-site element when optimizing a page to maximize search visibility for that page.
Meta-Description –
“She won’t say no when you slip her finger into one of our exquisitely styled engagement rings. Whether she’s a romantic traditionalist or a contemporary…” (152 characters)
A good meta-description should utilize key phrases related to that search, plus enticing users to click on the link based on what they are looking for.Note: Meta- descriptions are considered to be of no value, or at most minimal value in improving that pages search engine ranking result. Try keeping the description to no more than 155 characters.
http://grimballjewelers.com/collections/engagement/
url -
Lastly, the url for the page serves to reinforce the likelihood of the page relating to their search and serves to further confirm to the searcher that they may find what they are looking on the website.
Note: A url that incorporates the key search term(s) is considered to be another element to consider in optimizing a website’s navigation and helping to improve ranking results for that term.
Posted on 31 August 2009 by Alan Hecht in Search Engine Marketing